Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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003597-2669-101
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CUSTOMIZING A MEDIA PROFILE PAGE
Background
[0001] The present disclosure is directed towards systems and methods for
adjusting and/or
customizing a profile page where a plurality of user profiles are provided on
a single landing
page. In particular, systems and methods are provided herein that adjust
and/or customize a
profile page based on generating an image collage from identified content
items.
Summary
[0002] The proliferation of content item delivery services, including over-the-
top (OTT),
streaming and video on demand (VOD) services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime
Video, Disney+
and Hulu, affords consumers of content items more choice than ever before. A
user typically
accesses a content item delivery service via a user profile. Typically, a user
signs in to the
content item delivery service via an application running on a computing device
such as a smart
television, smartphone and/or tablet. At a future time, a selectable icon may
enable a user to
access the content item delivery service without reentering their details.
Content item delivery
services may provide tailored recommendations to users, based on their
consumption history.
Relevant recommendations can have the benefit of reducing usage of network
bandwidth,
storage resources and/or processing resources. This is achieved by reducing
the number of times
that a user skips from content item to content item, when looking for
something to consume, and
hence enables a reduction in the transmission of additional content that is
not relevant. However,
it is not easy for a consumer to share a summary of what content items they
have been
840733_i
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consuming with other users and, in particular, other users who use the content
item delivery
service on the same computing device. Existing sharing systems tend to be
manual, reliant on
text links and limited to a single content item, or series of content items.
This can mean that other
users may access user profiles other than their own, in order to see what
content items have been
consumed. For example, Alice may access Bob's profile to see what Bob has been
watching. In
addition, users may start consuming other content items while still signed in
to the other user
profile. For example, Alice may start streaming episodes of a series that Bob
does not watch.
This can reduce the relevance of any recommendations. For example, when Bob
accesses the
content item delivery service, he may receive recommendations based on Alice's
viewing.
[0003] To overcome these problems, systems and methods are provided herein for
adjusting
and/or customizing a profile page. In particular, systems and methods are
provided herein that
adjust and/or customize a profile page based on generating an image collage
from identified
content items.
[0004] Systems and methods are described herein for adjusting and/or
customizing a profile
page. In accordance with some aspects of the disclosure, a method is provided.
A first user
profile and a second user profile are accessed by a computing device. A first
plurality of content
items associated with the first user profile are identified, and a second
plurality of content items
associated with the second user profile are identified. A first subset of
content items of the first
plurality of content items and a second subset of content items of the second
plurality of content
items are selected based on the first user profile and the second user
profile. For each content
item of the first subset of content items, an image associated with the
content item is identified,
and for each content item of the second subset of content items, an image
associated with the
content item is identified. A first image collage for the first user profile
and a second image
collage for the second user profile are generated based on the identified
images. The first and
second image collages, a first indicator corresponding to the first user
profile, and a second
indicator corresponding to the second user profile are generated for display.
[0005] In an example system, a user opens an OTT application, such as a
Netflix application,
on, for example, a smart television. On opening the OTT application, the smart
television
displays a profile page to the user, which displays a number of selectable
icons corresponding to
user profiles. In addition to the selectable icons, the smart television
displays image collages for
each of the user profiles. The image collages are generated by identifying a
plurality of content
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items that have been consumed while signed in via one of the user profiles.
For example, a
selection of movies and episodes may have been consumed. Images associated
with the
identified movies and episodes are identified, for example via a webservice,
and the image
collage is generated based on the identified images, for example by tiling the
identified images in
a rectangular shape. The image collage may be associated with the user profile
icon, for example,
the image collage may surround the user profile icon.
[0006] An input may be received at the computing device, a user associated
with the input may
be identified and a preference associated with the first user may be accessed.
The preference may
indicate a type of content item to be excluded from the first image collage.
Selecting the first
subset of content items may comprise selecting the first subset of content
items based on the
preference. A user may be associated with the first user profile, and a
hierarchy associated with
the first user profile and the second user profile may be identified. It may
be identified whether
the user associated with the first user profile is proximate to the computing
device and, on
identifying that the user is proximate to the computing device, one of the
first or second image
collages may be hidden based on the hierarchy. For each content item of the
first plurality of
content items, an associated consumption duration may be determined. Each
determined
consumption duration may be compared to a threshold value. Selecting the first
subset of content
items may be further based on the respective consumption duration of a content
item exceeding
the threshold value.
[0007] A shared content item that is in both the first and the second subset
of content items
may be identified, and the image associated with the shared content item may
be divided into
three portions. The first image collage may be generated based on a first
portion of the image,
and the second image collage may be generated based on a second portion of the
image. The first
image collage, the second image collage and a third portion of the image may
be arranged to
reproduce the image associated with the shared content item.
[0008] A season and/or episode identifier, such as a number, may be accessed
based on a
content item of the first subset of content items, and an indication of the
season and/or episode
identifier may be generated. The first image collage may be generated based on
the indication of
the season and/or episode identifier. Data associated with progress through a
content item may
be accessed via the user profile and based on a content item of the first
subset of content items,
and a progress indicator may be generated based on the data. The first image
collage may be
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generated based on the progress indicator. A screenshot of a portion of the
content item may be
generated based on a content item of the first subset of content items. The
first image collage
may be generated on the screenshot. A ranking for each content item of the
first subset of content
items may be determined and, based on the determined rankings, a size for each
of the identified
images may be identified. The image collage may be generated based on the
identified size for
each of the identified images.
[0009] The first and second user profiles may be associated with a social
media website and a
content item delivery service, and input associated with generating new
content on the social
media website may be received at the social media website and associated with
the first user
profile. The input associated with generating new content may comprise an
indication of a
mention of the second user profile and the content item delivery service.
Identifying the first and
second plurality of content items may be based on the mention of the content
item delivery
service. Generating the user profile indicators and image collages for display
may comprises
generating, for each of the user profiles, a user profile indicator, an image
collage and the new
content for display on the social media website.
Brief Descriptions of the Drawings
[0010] The present disclosure, in accordance with one or more various
embodiments, is
described in detail with reference to the following figures. The drawings are
provided for
purposes of illustration only and merely depict typical or example
embodiments. These drawings
are provided to facilitate an understanding of the concepts disclosed herein
and shall not be
considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of these concepts.
It should be noted
that for clarity and ease of illustration these drawings are not necessarily
made to scale.
[0011] The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure may be
apparent upon
consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with
the accompanying
drawings, in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 shows an example image collage, in accordance with some
embodiments of the
disclosure;
[0013] FIG. 2 shows an example customized profile page, in accordance with
some
.. embodiments of the disclosure;
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100141 FIG. 3 shows an example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;
[0015] FIG. 4 shows another example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;
[0016] FIG. 5 shows another example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;
[0017] FIG. 6 shows another example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;
[0018] FIG. 7 shows another example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;
[0019] FIG. 8 shows another example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;
[0020] FIG. 9 shows a block diagram representing components of a computing
device and data
flow therebetween for customizing a profile page, in accordance with some
embodiments of the
disclosure; and
[0021] FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in customizing
a profile page,
in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.
Detailed Description
[0022] Systems and methods are described herein for adjusting and/or
customizing a profile
page. A profile page is any generated page, screen, or similar, via which a
selectable icon, or
representation, associated with a user profile is displayed. A user profile is
any collection of
settings, data and/or information associated with a specific login to a
service, such as a content
item delivery service. A user profile may be populated manually and/or
automatically. Data
contained in the user profile may remain static or may be updated dynamically
in response to, for
example, user actions.
[0023] A content item includes audio, video, text and/or any other media
content. A content
item may be a single media content item; in other examples it may be a series
(or season) of
episodes of media content items. Audio includes audio-only content, such as
podcasts. Video
includes audiovisual content such as movies and/or television programs. Text
includes text-only
content, such as event descriptions. One example of a suitable media content
item is one that
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complies with the MPEG DASH standard. An OTT, streaming and/or VOD service (or
platform)
may be accessed via a website and/or an app running on a computing device and
may receive
any type of content item, including live content items and/or on-demand
content items. Content
items may, for example, by streamed to physical computing devices. In another
example, content
items may, for example, be streamed to virtual computing devices in, for
example, a virtual
environment and/or the metaverse.
[0024] An image includes any image file type including Portable Network
Graphics (PNG),
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Graphic Interchange Format (GIF),
Tagged Image
File Format (TIFF) and RAW image file types. Images may be static or may
comprise
animations. An image collage is any selection of images that is purposely
arranged. An image
collage may form a regular shape, such as a square and/or a rectangle. In
other examples, an
image collage may form an irregular shape. An image collage may be formed of
images that are
of the same, or similar, sizes. In another example, an image collage may be
formed of images
that are of different sizes. An image collage may comprise information in
addition to the images,
for example, text indicating a title, genre, season identifier, such as a
number, and/or episode
identifier, such as a number, associated with a content item. In another
example, an image
collage may comprise an indication of progress associated with a content item.
[0025] The disclosed methods and systems may be implemented on one or more
computing
devices. As referred to herein, the computing device can be any device
comprising a processor
and memory, for example, a television, a smart television, a set-top box, an
integrated receiver
decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, a digital storage device, a
digital media receiver
(DMR), a digital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player,
a DVD
recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, a BLU-RAY
recorder, a
personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a WebTV box, a
personal
computer television (PC/TV), a PC media server, a PC media center, a handheld
computer, a
stationary telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone,
a portable video
player, a portable music player, a portable gaming machine, a smartphone, a
smartwatch, a smart
speaker, an augmented reality device, a mixed reality device, a virtual
reality device, or any other
television equipment, computing equipment, or wireless device, and/or
combination of the same.
[0026] The methods and/or any instructions for performing any of the
embodiments discussed
herein may be encoded on computer-readable media. Computer-readable media
includes any
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media capable of storing data. The computer-readable media may be transitory,
including, but
not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals, or may be
non-transitory,
including, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile computer memory or
storage devices such
as a hard disk, floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory,
processor
caches, random access memory (RAM), etc.
[0027] FIG. 1 shows an example image collage, in accordance with some
embodiments of the
disclosure. Image collage 100 is associated with a selectable user profile
icon 102 and name. The
image collage 100 is arranged around the user profile icon 102 in a
rectangular manner. The
image collage comprises images 104a, 104b, 104c, 104d, 104e 104f, each of
which is associated
with a different content item. Each of the images 104a, 104b, 104c, 104d, 104e
104f is a different
size. The size may be based on how best to collage the images in a regular
shape. In other
examples, the size may be based on a rating system.
[0028] FIG. 2 shows an example customized profile page, in accordance with
some
embodiments of the disclosure. Profile page 200 comprises four selectable user
profile icons
202a, 202b, 202c 202d and associated names. Image collages 204a, 204b, 204c
are arranged
around user profile icons 202a, 202b, 202c. In this example, user profile icon
202d does not have
an image collage associated with it. In some examples, a preference, or
setting, may be
associated with a user profile that enables the display of an image collage
associated with a
profile icon.
[0029] FIG. 3 shows an example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The environment comprises
smart
television 300, though in other examples the smart television may be any
suitable computing
device including, for example, a smartphone, a laptop and/or a tablet device.
On opening a
content item delivery service, such as Netflix, a plurality of user profiles
are accessed 302. The
user profiles may be stored locally on the smart television 300 or, in other
examples, the user
profiles may be stored remote from the smart television and accessible via a
network, such as the
internet, as described below in connection with FIG. 4.
[0030] On accessing the user profiles, content items are identified 304 for
each of the user
profiles. Typically, these are content items, such as films and/or episodes,
that have been
consumed while a user is logged into a content item delivery service with a
user profile. In some
examples, the content items may be identified via, for example, generated
metadata from the
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content item delivery service application, or metadata accessed from a
webservice and/or via an
Application Programming Interface (API). In some examples, content items may
be identified by
sending a clip of the content item, or a part of the content item, to a
content item recognition
service. In other examples, a trained algorithm may automatically identify
suitable content items.
In some examples, content items that are identified as being "binge-watched"
may be prioritized
for inclusion in an image collage. In other examples, content items may be
identified and/or
prioritized based on a link between the user profile and a particular content
item and/or actor.
This link may be, for example, a "like" for a particular content item and/or
actor, an alert and/or
reminder for a particular content item, a content item that has been added to
a watchlist, and/or
based on whether a particular content item is trending. In some examples, only
a fixed number of
content items may be identified, for example, three, six, eight and/or ten
content items, so that
the image collage does not become too large and/or crowded. In other examples,
a large number
of content items may be identified, resulting in a large image collage and/or
an image collage
comprising relatively small images. On identifying the content items for each
of the user profiles,
images associated with the content items are identified 306. For example,
images may be
identified via a webservice, via scraping a website, via identifying
thumbnails already present in
the content delivery item application and/or via a captured screenshot of a
content item. Images
may include, for example, an advertising poster for a content item. Further
examples of different
images and/or information that may be included in an image collage are
discussed in more detail
below.
[0031] On identifying the images associated with the identified content items,
image collages
for each of the user profiles are generated 308. In one example, the
identified images are
arranged such that, for example, at least two borders of an image are each in
contact with a
boarder of another image. In other examples, constraints on the shape of the
image collage are
met, for example a square, a rectangular, any regular shape and/or any
irregular shape. In some
examples, constraints on the size of the image collage are met. These may be a
relative size, for
example not to exceed 10% of the screen of the smart television 300. In other
examples, the size
may be a set number of pixels, for example 350 by 180 pixels. In some
examples, the images
may overlap in an image collage. In other examples, the images may not
overlap, and any gaps
may be filled in with a background color, such as black. In some examples, the
images may
move within the image collage, for example all the images may move in a
circular motion
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around a center point. In another example, the individual images may move, or
rotate, around
individual fixed axes. In other examples, the images may be sized to produce
an image collage of
a size that enables a consistent boarder region around an image collage with
respect to the other
image collages on the profile page.
[0032] At the smart television 300, a user profile page 310, comprising icons
312a, 312b, 312c
representing the user profiles and the generated image collages 314a, 314b,
314c are generated
for display, thereby enabling a user to easily see a summary of what content
items the different
user profiles have been consuming.
[0033] In some examples, one or more images in the generated image collages
may be
selectable via a user input, for example, via a command issued from a remote
control and/or via a
touch event on a touchscreen of a computing device. On receiving an input, for
example, an OTT
application may generate a suitable section of the application for display.
For example, if an
image in an image collage corresponds to the series "Orange is the New Black"
then, on
receiving an input selecting that image, the OTT application may generate a
section for display
that enables the user to navigate through episodes and/or watch episodes of
"Orange is the New
Black." In some examples, this functionality may be achieved via deep-linking
one or more
images of the image collages to, for example, a series page, or section, of an
OTT application. In
some examples, the content item may start playing, or resuming, in response to
an input
command selecting the image.
[0034] In some examples, a user may be associated with a first user profile;
however, the user
may wish to consume a content item associated with an image of the image
collage of a second
user profile. To address this situation, in some examples, a user may be
presented with an option
to view a content item that is associated with a selected image of an image
collage with a profile
that is not associated with that image collage. Such an option may always be
presented to the
user on selection of an image of an image collage, for example by listing all
the profiles that are
available for consuming, or resuming, the content item. In another example,
the user may be able
to access such an options menu via a long press of a button on a remote
control and/or via a long
touch on a touchscreen of a computing device. In other examples, such an
options menu may be
accessible via an assigned button of an input device and/or combination of
buttons.
[0035] In some examples, a subset of the identified content items may be
selected based on the
time of day, such that the image collage comprises time appropriate images.
For example, a user
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profile may indicate that a user normally watches "The Queen's Gambit" in the
morning and
"Orange is the New Black" in the evening. In this example, an image associated
with "The
Queen's Gambit" may be selected for inclusion in an image collage in the
morning, and an
image associated with "Orange is the New Black" may be selected for inclusion
in an image
collage in the evening. In a similar manner, a user profile may indicate that
certain content items
are consumed in different seasons (e.g., "Narcos" may generally be consumed in
the summer and
"You" may be generally consumed in the winter), during festive and/or
religious periods (e.g.,
Christmas and/or Ramadan), and/or in correlation with the weather and/or
climate (e.g., "Elite"
may be generally consumed when it is cold and/or "Friends" may generally be
consumed when it
is sunny). In a similar manner, images associated with the relevant programs
may be selected for
inclusion in an image collage in similar seasons, festive and/or religious
periods, and/or similar
weather. Season, festive, religious and/or weather data may be accessed via a
web service and
may be stored in a user profile in association with content item consumption
data.
[0036] In another example, the number of images and/or the size of the images
that make up
the image collage may depend on the size of a display for which the image
collage is being
generated for display. For example, a mobile computing device, such as a
smartphone, may
comprise a relatively small display. In this example, an image collage
comprising relatively few
images (including one image) may be generated for display on the display of
the smartphone. In
another example, a computing device with a relatively large display, for
example, a smart
television, may have an image collage comprising a relatively large number of
images generated
for display. Display size may be measured by a total number of pixels of a
display and/or by the
physical size of the display.
[0037] FIG. 4 shows another example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In a similar manner to the
environment
discussed in connection with FIG. 3, the environment includes a smart
television 400, at which a
profile page 414, comprising icons 416a, 416b, 416c representing user profiles
and generated
image collages 418a, 418b, 418c, is displayed. On accessing a content item
delivery service at
the smart television 400, a command is transmitted from the smart television
400, via a network
402, such as the internet, to a server 404. The network 402 may comprise wired
and/or wireless
.. means. User profiles are accessed 406 at the server 404. In a similar
manner to that discussed in
connection with FIG. 3, content items are identified 408 for each of the user
profiles, images
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associated with the content items are identified 410 and images collages are
generated 412. The
generated image collages are transmitted from the server 404, via network 402,
to the smart
television 400, where they are generated for display on the profile page 414,
with the icons 416a,
416b, 416c. The server 404 may comprise a single physical or virtual server.
In other examples,
the process associated with accessing 406 the user profiles, identifying 408
the content items,
identifying 410 the images and generating 412 the image collages may take
place on different
physical or virtual servers. In some examples, any content item subsequently
accessed via the
content item delivery service may be transmitted from the same server 404 that
is used to
perform any of the aforementioned processes 406, 408, 410, 412. In other
examples, the content
.. item may be transmitted from a different server to a server that is used to
perform any of the
aforementioned processes 406, 408, 410, 412.
[0038] FIG. 5 shows another example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. A social media site 500,
for example,
Facebook, may be accessed via a computing device, for example, via a web
browser running on
.. a laptop and/or an application running on a smartphone. The social media
site has a social media
profile 502 associated with it. For example, a user may log on to social media
site 500 via a user
profile. A user using the social media site 500 may post information
comprising, for example,
comments and photos via the social media website such that other users,
including friends and/or
general users, may be able to read their social media posts via their viewing
session, for example,
on a different computing device. When receiving input 504 associated with
generating a post that
comprises a mention 506 of a content item delivery service, indicated in this
example by the "@"
symbol, the social media platform may access a user profile associated with
the content item
delivery service. In some examples, the user profile may be the same user
profile that is used to
log on to the social media website 500. In other examples, the user profile
may be a separate user
profile that is linked to the social media website 500. In response to
identifying the mention of
the content item delivery service, content items associated with the user
profile may be
identified, images associated with the content items are identified and images
collages are
generated. These steps may take place at servers associated with the social
media website. For
example, the content item delivery service may provide a simple list, for
example via an
Extensible Markup Language (XML) file, of relevant content items that are
associated with the
user profile. The steps of identifying images associated with the content
items and generating the
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image collages may be performed at the servers associated with the social
media website. In
another example, the content item delivery service may have an API associated
with it that
enables the social media website to request an image collage that is, for
example, pre-generated
or generated on the fly. The generated image collage 508 is included in the
user's post to the
social media website 500.
[0039] FIG. 6 shows another example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The environment comprises
smart
television 600, though in other examples the smart television may be any
suitable computing
device including, for example, a smartphone, a laptop and/or a tablet device.
On opening a
content item delivery service, such as Netflix, a plurality of user profiles
are accessed 602. The
user profiles may be stored locally on the smart television 600 or, in other
examples, the user
profiles may be stored remote from the smart television and accessible via a
network, such as the
internet, as described above in connection with FIG. 4. On accessing the user
profiles, a
preference associated with identifying content items is accessed 604. For
example, preferences
include whether to include only "children-friendly" content items, whether to
include text for one
or more content items (rather than images), and/or whether to exclude a
content item for display.
Content items are identified 606 for each of the user profiles. On identifying
the content items
for each of the user profiles, images associated with the content items are
identified 608. On
identifying the images associated with the identified content items, image
collages for each of
the user profiles are generated 610. At the smart television 600, a user
profile page comprising
icons 612a, 612b, 612c representing the user profiles and the generated image
collages 614a,
614b, 614c are generated for display, thereby enabling a user to easily see a
summary of what
content items the different user profiles have been consuming. In this
example, the image collage
614a comprises only images associated with content items that are "children-
friendly" because
the user profile associated with that image collage is a "Kids" (or, in other
examples, a
"Child's") user profile. Image collage 614b comprises an image that has been
replaced with text
616a. This may be useful, for example, for enabling a reference to a content
item to be included
in the image collage, but for which a suitable image (e.g., one that is
suitable for all audiences)
has not been found. Image collage 614c comprises a space 616c, in which an
image has not been
generated, based on a user preference. In some examples, an image may be
chosen for a different
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content item, if a preference precludes images based on a content item from
being included in the
image collage.
[0040] In some examples, the accessed 604 preference may be associated with a
user profile. In
other examples, a user of the smart television 600 may be identified, and a
preference associated
with the user may be accessed 604. A user may be identified as a person
holding a remote
control associated with the smart television via, for example, processing of
data captured by one
or more sensors associated with the smart television. For example, a camera
associated with the
smart television may capture an image, and image processing may be used to
identify the person
that is holding the remote control, for example, using face identification
technology to compare a
face in the captured image with a representation of a face that is stored with
a user profile. In
other examples, a user may be identified via a viewing history and/or
otherwise via accessed
profiles and/or content. In other examples, the preference may indicate that a
type of content
item may be excluded from an image collage associated with a user profile that
is associated with
the user and/or from an image collage, or image collages, that are not
associated with the user.
[0041] In some examples, a hierarchy may be associated with the plurality of
profiles. For
example, a user profile associated with an adult may have a higher ranking in
the hierarchy than
a user profile associated with a child, or a primary profile of an account
owner may have a higher
ranking than other secondary profiles of the account holder or profiles of
other friends and/or
family. Image collages associated with the profiles higher in the hierarchy
(for example,
associated with an adult) may be hidden on identifying that a user associated
with a user profile
lower in the hierarchy (for example, a child) is present in the same room as
the smart television
(or other computing device). In some examples, rather than hiding an entire
image collage, one
or more images of an image collage may be hidden on identifying that a user
associated with a
user profile lower in the hierarchy is present in the same room as the smart
television (or other
computing device). In another example, image collages may be displayed
regardless of a setting
associated with a user profile if a user associated with a user profile higher
in the hierarchy (for
example, an adult) is identified in the same room as the smart television (or
other computing
device). The smart television, or other computing device, may identify users
via a camera, a
microphone and/or via communication between the smart television and a
computing device
associated with a user, for example, via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and/or near-field
communication
(NFC) communication between the smart television and a smartphone associated
with the user.
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-06-30
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In another example, the type of user (e.g., adult, or child) and/or the
ranking of a user profile
may be determined based on a likelihood of a particular user controlling the
computing device,
such as a smart television, or otherwise accessing the user profiles and/or
content. Users may be
identified based on a time and/or date, a last profile in use and/or a watch
history associated with
a profile. For example, the time may be 9pm, which is associated with a high
probability of
children being asleep and therefore it is not likely that a child will be
using the smart television,
or other computing device. In another example, the smart television may be
being accessed
during a time period, such as the afternoon, that is associated with a child's
profile normally
accessing content (identified, for example, via a watch history associated
with the profile). User
profiles may comprise an image, voice recording and/or indication of a device
associated with a
user in order to aid with identification of a user associated with a user
profile.
[0042] FIG. 7 shows another example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The environment comprises
smart
television 700, though in other examples the smart television may be any
suitable computing
device including, for example, a smartphone, a laptop and/or a tablet device.
At the smart
television 700, a user profile page comprising icons representing the user
profiles and generated
image collages 702a, 702b, 702c are generated for display, thereby enabling a
user to easily see a
summary of what content items the different user profiles have been consuming.
The image
collages 702a, 702b, 702c comprise variations on generating image collages.
Image collage 702a
comprises a progress bar 704 associated with an image of a content item and a
check 706
associated with another image of a content item. The progress bar 704
indicates a viewing
progress associated with a content item. The progress bar 704 may indicate
viewing progress
through a single content item, such as a movie, or, where the content item
comprises a series of
episodes, the progress bar 704 may indicate progress through a single episode,
a season, or, in
some examples, through the whole series of seasons. In some examples, one or
more images of
the image collage may be selectable via an input command, for example, from a
remote-control
device and/or a touch event on a touchscreen. On receipt of a command for
selecting an image
associated with a progress bar, the content item associated with the image may
resume playing in
response to the input command. The check 706 indicates that a content item has
been consumed.
In some examples, the tick may be applied when a threshold amount of a content
item has been
consumed, for example 95% of a content item, or greater than 50 % of a content
item. The check
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-06-30
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706 may be associated with a single content item, such as a movie, or, where
the content item
comprises a series of episodes, the check 706 may indicate progress through a
single episode, or,
in some examples through the whole series.
[0043] Image collages 702a and 702b comprise a shared image 708 of a content
item, such that
portions of the shared image 708 overlap across or are otherwise included in
the image collages
702a, 702b. Image collages may share an image of a content item if, for
example, the same
content item is identified for two (or more) user profiles, in the manner
discussed in connection
with FIG. 3 above. In some examples, an additional criterion may be applied,
for example, that
the user profiles have associated the same, or a similar, ranking with the
content item. In some
examples, the two rankings may be within a threshold value. The order and/or
position of the
user profiles may be rearranged in order to enable image collages to share the
image. In some
examples, an original image may be resized before it is shared between image
collages, in order
to prevent distortion of the image.
[0044] Image collage 702c comprises an indicator of a season and an episode
identifier 710,
such as a number, associated with an image of a collage item. In some
examples, the indicator
may comprise only a season identifier or an episode identifier. Image collage
702c also
comprises a screenshot 712 of a content item. The screenshot may be captured
during a viewing
session of the content item or, in other examples, may be obtained via a
webservice and/or an
API. Any of the aforementioned features, the progress bar 704, the check 706,
the shared image
708, the season and episode indicator 710 and/or the screenshot 712 may be
combined with one
another and/or may be applied to a plurality (including all) of the images of
an image collage. An
image collage may comprise a combination of the aforementioned features such
that, for
example, one image may have the check 706 associated with it and another image
may have the
season and episode indicator 710 associated with it in the same image collage.
[0045] In some examples, a first user profile may be linked to one or more
other user profiles.
If an image collage includes an image of a content item that is being consumed
by one or more
of the other linked user profiles, an indicator may be applied to the image of
the content item.
For example, the image collage 702a associated with Liza's profile may
comprise an image
associated with the series Elite. If Tom's profile is linked to Liza's
profile, and Tom's profile is
streaming an episode of Elite, then an indicator, indicating that "Tom" is
consuming an episode
of Elite, may be applied to the image of Elite that is in the image collage
702a associated with
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-06-30
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Liza's profile. Such an indicator may comprise text "Tom currently watching"
and/or an icon
associated with Tom's profile.
[0046] FIG. 8 shows another example environment in which a profile page is
customized, in
accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The environment comprises
smart
television 800, though in other examples the smart television may be any
suitable computing
device including, for example, a smartphone, a laptop and/or a tablet device.
On opening a
content item delivery service, such as Netflix, a plurality of user profiles
are accessed 802. The
user profiles may be stored locally on the smart television 800 or, in other
examples, the user
profiles may be stored remote from the smart television and accessible via a
network, such as the
internet, as described below in connection with FIG. 4. On accessing the user
profiles, content
items are identified 804 for each of the user profiles.
[0047] On identifying the content items for each of the user profiles, images
associated with
the content items are identified 806. A content item ranking is determined 808
for each of the
content items. The rankings may be based on, for example, whether a content
item is being
consumed (e.g., halfway through a season), or has recently been consumed. In
other examples, a
user may indicate that they intend to consume a new season of a content item,
in which case the
ranking may be based on this indication. In other examples, image processing
may be used to
analyze images of a user when they are viewing a content item in order to
determine an
excitement, or interest, level associated with a content item. Such images may
be captured by,
for example, a camera integral to the smart television 800, a camera integral
to a smartphone that
is linked to the user profile and/or via an internet-of-things (IoT) camera
that is associated with
the user profile. In other examples, output from a smart health monitoring
device that is
associated with the user profile may be used to determine an excitement, or
interest, level
associated with a content item. The ranking may be based on the determined
excitement, or
interest, level. In other examples, the ranking may be based on generated
metadata from the
content item delivery service application, or metadata accessed from a
webservice and/or via an
API. In other examples, a trained algorithm may automatically determine
content items'
rankings. In some examples, content items that are identified as being "binge-
watched" may
have a higher ranking associated with them. In other examples, content items
may be ranked
based on a link between the user profile and a particular content item and/or
actor. This link may
be, for example, a "like" for a particular content item and/or actor, an alert
and/or reminder for a
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-06-30
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particular content item, a content item that has been added to a watchlist,
and/or based on
whether a particular content item is trending.
[0048] For each image to be included in the image collage, an image size is
determined 810.
For example, the higher the ranking, the larger the image. In some examples,
the image collage
has a number of preset image sizes, for example, five image sizes. In this
case, five content items
would be identified, and the identified images would be resized based on the
preset image size.
In other examples, the image resizing may be dynamic, such that if the highest
ranking is twice
that of the lowest ranking, the largest image would be twice that of the
smallest image. In other
examples, a dynamic image resizing may take place, but with additional
constraints that ensure
the images fit into the image collage, with minimal space to fill with a
background color (or
image). In some examples, the images may be arranged according to the "golden
ratio," or
substantially according to the "golden ratio."
[0049] On identifying the images associated with the identified content items,
and determining
the image sizes, image collages for each of the user profiles are generated
812. At the smart
television 800, a user profile page, comprising icons representing the user
profiles, and the
generated image collages are generated for display. In this example, the image
814a of the image
collage is larger than image 814b, which is larger than image 814c, which in
turn is larger than
image 814d, which is larger than image 814e of the image collage. The image
sizes represent the
determined content rankings, thereby enabling a user to easily see a summary
of what content
items the different user profiles have been consuming and how they are ranked.
[0050] FIG. 9 shows a block diagram representing components of a computing
device and data
flow therebetween for customizing a profile page, in accordance with some
embodiments of the
disclosure. Computing device 900 (e.g., smart television 300, 400, 600, 700,
800) as discussed
above comprises input circuitry 904, control circuitry 908 and output module
926. Control
circuitry 908 may be based on any suitable processing circuitry (not shown)
and comprises
control circuits and memory circuits, which may be disposed on a single
integrated circuit or
may be discrete components and processing circuitry. As referred to herein,
processing circuitry
should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or more microprocessors,
microcontrollers,
digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate
arrays (FPGAs),
application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may include a
multi-core processor
(e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or any suitable number of cores). In
some embodiments,
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-06-30
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processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separate processors or
processing units,
for example, multiple of the same type of processing units (e.g., two Intel
Core i9 processors) or
multiple different processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel
Core i7 processor)
and/or a system on a chip (e.g., a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888). Some control
circuits may be
implemented in hardware, firmware, or software.
[0051] Input is received by the input circuitry 904. The input circuitry 904
is configured to
receive inputs related to a computing device. For example, this may be via an
infrared controller,
a Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi controller of the computing device 900, a
touchscreen, a keyboard, a
mouse and/or a microphone. In another example, the input may comprise
instructions received
via another computing device. The input circuitry 904 transmits 906 the user
input to the control
circuitry 908.
[0052] The control circuitry 908 comprises a user profile access module 910, a
content item
identification module 914, an image identification module 918, and an image
collage generation
module 922. The input is transmitted 906 to the user profile access module
910, where a user
profile is accessed, for example a user profile associated with a content item
deliver service. On
accessing the user profile, an indication of the user profile is transmitted
912 to the content item
identification module 914, where content items associated with the user
profile are identified. An
indication of the identified content items is transmitted 916 to the image
identification module
918, where images associated with the identified content items are identified.
The identified
images are transmitted 920 to the image collage generation module 922, where
an image collage
is generated. The generated image collage is transmitted 924 to the output
circuitry 926, where
the image collage is generated for display by the image collage display module
928.
[0053] FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in customizing
a profile page,
in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Process 1000 may be
implemented on
any of the aforementioned computing devices (e.g., smart television 300, 400,
600, 700, 800). In
addition, one or more actions of the process 1000 may be incorporated into or
combined with
one or more actions of any other process or embodiments described herein.
[0054] At 1002, user profiles are accessed, for example user profiles
associated with a content
item delivery service on initiation of an application associated with the
service. At 1004, content
items associated with the user profiles are identified. A loop starts at 1006
where, for each of the
identified content items, it is determined, at 1008, whether a content item
preference, or a
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-06-30
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characteristic of a second user profile is relevant. For example, a user may
indicate that content
items of a certain genre should not be included in the collage, or a child's
profile is be present,
again indicating that content items of a certain genre should not be included
in the collage. At
1010, if the content item meets a criterion to be removed from selection, it
is removed from
selection and the system progresses to the next content item. If the content
item meets the criteria
at 1008, at 1012 it is determined whether the duration of the content item is
over a threshold
duration. At 1014, if the duration of the content item is over the threshold
duration, it is removed
from selection and the system progresses to the next content item. If the
content item meets the
criteria at 1008 and 1012, it is determined whether there are any more content
items to be
processed at 1016. If there are, the system progresses onto the next content
item, restarting the
loop at 1006. If not, the system progresses to 1018, where images associated
with the content
items are identified. At 1020, it is determined whether an episode and/or
season identifier, such
as a number, should be included in the image collage for a content item. If an
episode identifier
and/or season identifier should be included, the episode identifier and/or
season identifier is
accessed at 1022. At 1024, it is determined whether a progress indicator
should be included in
the image collage for a content item. If it should be included, data enabling
the progress indicator
to be generated is accessed at 1026. At 1028, it is determined whether a
screenshot from the
content item should be included in the image collage. If a screenshot should
be included, it is
generated, or accessed, at 1030. At 1032, it is determined whether different
images sizes are
required for the image collage. If different image sizes are required, a
content item ranking is
determined at 1034 and an image size is determined at 1036. The image collage
is generated for
display at 1038.
[0055] The processes described above are intended to be illustrative and not
limiting. One
skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of the processes discussed
herein may be
omitted, modified, combined, and/or rearranged, and any additional steps may
be performed
without departing from the scope of the disclosure. More generally, the above
disclosure is
meant to be example and not limiting. Furthermore, it should be noted that the
features and
limitations described in any one embodiment may be applied to any other
embodiment herein,
and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may be combined with any
other
embodiment in a suitable manner, done in different orders, or done in
parallel. In addition, the
systems and methods described herein may be performed in real time. It should
also be noted
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-06-30
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that the systems and/or methods described above may be applied to, or used in
accordance with,
other systems and/or methods.
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-06-30
